Daunting flight clouds Reds' Sunday night spotlight

Actor Charlie Sheen and guest analyst on ESPN's Baseball Tonight along with his best friend Tony Todd took time during batting practice to meet Reds Brandon Phillips at Great American Ball Park prior to their game against the St. Louis Cardinals.(Photo: The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger)

The Reds are enjoying the national spotlight of ESPN on Sunday night, but the glamour lost some zing amid thoughts of a daunting postgame flight to Los Angeles.

Immediately following Sunday's 8:05 p.m. game against St. Louis, the Reds will board a charter flight west to Los Angeles for their next game Monday. The Reds are not expected to reach their L.A. hotel until around 6:30 a.m. Monday (Eastern time).

"There's no benefit to it," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "There's certainly a benefit to the (ESPN) exposure for our team and the Cardinals but it's not great, the travel. Especially us going to Los Angeles, playing a 5 o'clock game (Pacific time Monday), going through three time zones."

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Actor Charlie Sheen and guest analyst on ESPN's Baseball Tonight took time during batting practice to meet Reds Todd Frazier at Great American Ball Park prior to their game against the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger

Actor Charlie Sheen and guest analyst on ESPN's Baseball Tonight took time during batting practice to meet Reds Skip Schumaker at Great American Ball Park prior to their game against the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger

Actor Charlie Sheen and guest analyst on ESPN's Baseball Tonight along with his best friend Tony Todd took time during batting practice to meet Reds Brandon Phillips at Great American Ball Park prior to their game against the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger

Actor Charlie Sheen and guest analyst on ESPN's Baseball Tonight along with his best friend Tony Todd, back, took time during batting practice to meet Reds Todd Frazier at Great American Ball Park prior to their game against the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger

Actor Charlie Sheen and guest analyst on ESPN's Baseball Tonight showed off his Cincinnati Reds tattoo while hanging out at batting practice at Great American Ball Park prior to their game against the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger

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"The schedule is something you can't control," Mesoraco said. "Whatever it is, you show up and deal with it. You could be working 9-to-5 at McDonald's or something or, even worse, with it being Memorial Day and being overseas."

TV games are arranged after the major league schedules are set annually. The Reds happened to draw this card, this weekend.

"It's not ideal," outfielder Jay Bruce said. "In a few days you get caught up. We're professional athletes and it's our job, and we have to find a way to be ready to play."

Before Sunday's game, Price said a win over St. Louis obviously would make the long postgame flight more tolerable.

"That (quick turnaround) won't be an excuse for our play," Price said. "We need to come out there and play well in L.A."

WESTERN GRIND: The road trip will be a seven-game trek for the Reds, with three games at Dodger Stadium and then four at Arizona.

The Reds won consecutive series at Dodger Stadium in 2010 (2-1) and 2011 (3-0) but have lost their last two series there (1-2 in 2012, 1-3 in 2013).

BRONSON LOOMS: The Reds are scheduled to face old friend Bronson Arroyo on Friday at Arizona, with Mike Leake the scheduled Cincinnati starter that night.

LATOS WATCH: Right-hander Mat Latos had a rehab start Sunday night for Triple-A Louisville against Buffalo. Of 49 total pitches, 32 were strikes. In four innings he allowed three hits, two runs (one earned), one walk and struck out three.

Latos has been on the disabled list all season, recovering from surgeries on his right elbow (last Oct. 13) and left knee (Feb. 14). He will probably make three or four rehab starts before rejoining the Reds.

"We're going to look at three (starts) for sure, and see where he is," Price said. "We're going to try to get him up in the neighborhood of 90 to 100 pitches."

CINGRANI GRADE: With Latos looming for the rotation, where does left-hander Tony Cingrani stand? Cingrani went six innings and allowed four runs in a 6-3 loss Saturday, and could be the odd man out when Latos returns.

"There does create vulnerability there, but Tony's better than he's pitched," Price said. "I'd like to see that, because that's going to be a huge difference maker when it comes time to activate Matt."

BROKEN RECORD: Price said that at some point, the Reds (22-25 entering Sunday) need to string together some series wins.

"I'm sure everyone feels that we're treading water right now, and that we're waiting to have that period of time where it seems like we just really play the complete game on a regular basis," Price said. "I still very good about this group."